Director’s Lecture Series: Achieving FOIA Goals

July 18th, 2012 Posted by The Office of Information Policy

Dir. Melanie Ann Pustay speaks during the Director's Lecture Series

Last month we hosted the first session of our new training program, the Director’s Lecture Series. Focusing on FOIA Fundamentals, FOIA professionals from across the government joined Director Melanie Ann Pustay for an open discussion on the building blocks of FOIA administration.

Held in the Great Hall in the Justice Department’s Robert F. Kennedy building, the first session of this summer slate of lectures provided a forum for agency personnel to pose specific and individualized questions to Director Pustay on various FOIA topics. This free flow lecture allowed for questions to build off one another during the lecture, as many agency personnel had similar questions on topics being discussed. Questions covered such issues as fee categories, adequacy of search, litigation considerations, exemption applicability, and uses of technology in FOIA administration.

Next week we will be hosting the second session of this lecture series, which will focus on achieving and furthering FOIA goals based on Attorney General Holder’s FOIA Guidelines. This lecture will address such topics as discretionary disclosures of information, closing the ten oldest requests and consultations at agencies each fiscal year, and utilizing multi-track processing to improve timeliness. The details for this lecture, which is open to all agency FOIA personnel, are:

Director’s Lecture Series
Achieving FOIA Goals
Department of Justice, Robert F. Kennedy Building
10^th and Constitution Ave., NW – Great Hall
July 24, 2012, 10:00am – noon

Registration is required. You will need a picture ID to enter the building for this seminar.

The goal of this lecture series is to complement the training already offered by our office with focused sessions on specialized topics and the opportunity for discussion and an open dialogue with attendees. With fiscal year 2012 almost over and agencies across the government making their final push towards their specific goals and milestones, it is important to look at how these individual agency efforts contribute to the goals of the entire government.

If you are interested in attending this event, you can register by e-mailing your name and phone number to OIP’s Training Officer, Bertina Adams Cleveland, at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov. If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Ms. Adams at (202) 514-1010.

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